trade, or the common and necessary intercourse of society, brings you into contact with men who make no pretensions to vital piety, be on your guard. Let every thing be manifestly fair and honest. It is not enough, that you be strictly just in your dealings with mankind: to avoid the appearance of evil, you must often do more than your contract, or than any rule of equity requires; and in making these personal sacrifices, you must do "more than others." If you have much intercourse with the world, in the various exchanges of equivalent value, you will not unfrequently find yourselves placed in such circumstances, that you must either relinquish some right, or incur the suspicion of dishonesty; or rather, perhaps I ought to say, of not being scrupulously honest in that particular transaction. And surely, whenever the sacrifice is not so great, as to bring up a serious question of duty on the other side, you cannot hesitate to make it, on the ground just mentioned.

Beware, too, how you give countenance to vain and sinful amusements, either by your presence or connivance. I will not say, that your voice must never be heard in the loud laugh or vulgar song of the barroom, for in these things there is much more than the appearance of evil; nor that you must never enter your names in any of the great fashionable schools of vice or frivolity. But if you are parents, I will ask how you can permit your children to go, without giving up that authority with which God has intrusted you, for their safety and happiness; or without incurring the charge of gross inconsistency? Let those, especially, answer, whose sons and daughters return unrebuked from the ball-room, when the morning star is putting out its light, or who are among the first to encourage some transient, if not unprincipled and immoral master of positions and mazes, to take into his special keeping, the youthful manners and morals of the village.

Let me, then, earnestly exhort you to abstain from all appearance of evil. For in no other way can you be safe from the power of temptation. In no other way can you keep yourselves unspotted from the world. In no other way can you show your ardent love to all the brethren. In no other way can you uniformly honor the Savior. In no other way can "present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

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Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things:" "that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world."

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ENCOURAGEMENT ONLY TO THE DEVOTED AND OBEDIENT: ISAIAH, 1. 10.—Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God.

THE fear of the Lord, is a phrase often used in the Bible to express true religion. Accordingly the Divine blessing is pronounced upon every one who fears the Lord. It is therefore to be distinguished from that fear which hath torment. It is a filial fear; such as a good child has towards a good father, whom he loves, whose favor he highly prizes, and whose displeasure he dreads to incur.

It is here supposed, that the person who thus fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant, may, in some sense, walk in darkness and have no light. My object is to explain this figurative language, and to show how it was intended to be applied.

Light is emblematic of joy; e. g. "Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart." It is also an emblem of knowledge ;— "Whatsoever doth make manifest, is light." Knowledge is to the soul, what light is to the eye. When I have light, I see where to walk; so when I have knowledge in regard to my duty, I see what course I ought to pursue. Or if I have knowledge in regard to the manner in which Providence will deliver me from evils under which I suffer, I have light-I do not walk in darkness, with respect to such deliverance. If, on the contrary, I cannot see, nor even conjecture, how I am to be delivered from existing or impending evils, I may be said to walk in darkness: and in that case, if I fear the Lord and obey the voice of his servant, I am encouraged to trust in his name, and to stay myself upon Him. But suppose I doubt whether I am a Christian, and as such entitled to the inheritance of the saints: if I have no scriptural evidence that I possess this character, I may be said to walk in darkness in this respect. Now, the question is, to which of these cases was the language of the text intended to apply? I believe the last case stated is the one to which it is generally applied a state of the soul in which there exists no satisfactory evidence of the Divine favor; or, as it is often expressed-in which the light of God's countenance is withdrawn. It is characterized by hardness of heart,

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the absence of all comfortable views and feelings, a consciousness of being unfit for religious duty, and a reluctance to engage in such duty. Such, or something like it, is the condition of those to whom the text is commonly applied; and if this application be correct, the meaning will be, that a professor of religion who has no satisfactory evidence of the Divine favor; whose heart is hard; who has no comfortable views or feelings; who is conscious of being unfit for religious duty; and who takes no pleasure or interest in the performance of such duty;—that such a one has no reason to fear, but may rest assured that his condition is safe-may trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God, confident that all will end well! Is this the doctrine of the text? Who can believe it? The difficulty is increased when we consider that the character here spoken of, not only "fears the Lord”—i. e. has the very temper of a child of God—but " obeys his voice.” Can this be said of those to whom the text is generally applied? According to the above statement, and their own confession, they are living in the known neglect of duty; and do not enjoy the light of God's countenance. Indeed, it is on this very account that they consider the text as applicable to themselves. But what is the import of this confession? It will be understood, by considering for a moment the meaning of the phrase, the light of God's countenance. What can that mean, but an expression of the Divine approbation? When a father is pleased with the conduct of his son, approbation is expressed in his countenance. If the son behave amiss, he soon observes a change in the expression of his father's countenance towards him and is generally conscious that he has done wrong. If at any time he should observe such a change, without at once knowing the cause, he will immediately suspect himself; and will ask, What have I done to offend my father? So, when the children of God walk in his fear, and in obedience to his commands; when their supreme object is to please and to glorify him in all they do; while they trust in his abounding mercy through Christ, they enjoy the light of his countenance; i. e. the expression of his favor and approbation. This is manifested by his word and by his Spirit.

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1. His word assures them, that such persons are the objects of his special favor. "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delighteth in his way." Again, "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me, shall be loved by my Father; and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him."

2. His Spirit produces in them that state of feeling which is called "the spirit of adoption." The Apostle says, "We have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, "Abba, Father!" In this expression is included the testimony of an enlightened conscience. "Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, we have had our conversation in the world." Before Enoch was translated, “he had this testimony, that he pleased God."

If such be the meaning of the phrase in question, it would involve a palpable contradiction to apply the text to those from whom, according to their own acknowledgment, the light of God's countenance is withheld, and who are consequently walking in darkness, as to any evidence of the Divine favor. The application of the text to them, would imply that they have the filial

spirit of the children of God, and that they are walking in umreserved obe dience to his commands, when the reverse is the fact, except in some extraordinary cases, like that of the poet Cowper. It would further imply, that God would have them to understand from this text, that they are the objects of his special favor, that He has no controversy with them for disobedience, or neglect of duty, and that they have no cause to doubt or fear; when, according to the true meaning of the phrase just explained, He is frowning upon them, expressing his displeasure, and telling them by the darkness which rests upon their minds, that sOMETHING IS WRONG, and that they ought to examine their heart and conduct, and to compare both with His word, in order to ascertain where the fault lies. This view of the subject is further corroborated by the following passages of scripture: "The Lord is with you, while ye be with Him; and if ye seek Him, He will be found of you; but if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you." God said to Moses respecting Israel, "They will forsake me and break my covenant which I have made with them; then my anger shall be kindled against them, and I will hide my face from them." The prophet Isaiah says, "Thou hast hid thy face from The same truth is expressed almost in the

us, because of our iniquities." same words by the prophet Ezekiel; "Because they trespassed against me, therefore I hid my face from them." These passages, and others which relate to this subject, cannot, it appears to me, be reconciled with the supposition, that the text was intended for the relief and encouragement of those from whom the light of God's countenance is withdrawn, and who are walking in darkness as to religious enjoyment and as to any evidence of the Divine favor and acceptance. We cannot, in the face of these and many similar declarations, admit, that God intended by the text, to convey a meaning like this; although you fear my name and are obedient to my voice; and although, in my word, I have given you the assurance of my favor, and have pronounced you blessed, yet I am now withholding the light of my countenance from you, thereby expressing the reverse of what I feel towards you, in order to try your faith! therefore trust in my name and stay yourselves upon me, for the darkness will soon pass away, and all will end well! It would be doing infinite injustice to God to impute such language or such a meaning to Him. No; when He frowns, it is an unequivocal declaration of His displeasure it is the signal of alarm; a call to repent, and to do works meet for repentance. To persons in this condition there are other texts more applicable.- "Behold the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is his ear heavy that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that He will not hear." See also, lviii. chapter of Isaiah-and the prophecy of Haggai.

Whatever, therefore, may be meant in the text by walking in darkness and having no light, it cannot mean, that the persons referred to are experiencing the tokens of God's displeasure; nor does it imply the absence of those gracious affections which belong to the children of God; or that they are living in the avowed neglect of duty. We must therefore find another meaning. In the preceding chapters, the prophet speaks of the Babylonian captivity, and of the oppressions of the Israelites during that dark period of their

history. He also predicts their deliverance and restoration to their own land, and the subversion of the Chaldean empire. Such, however, was the strength, and such the resources of that vast empire; and to such a state of imbecility and wretchedness had the Israelites been reduced at the time of the prediction, that its fulfilment appeared to be impossible, or in the highest degree improbable. There was nothing in the aspect of things which could enable them to see or even to conjecture, how it should come to pass. Therefore, knowing how dark and discouraging the prospects of his people would be in this state of captivity, God reminds them of what He had done for their ancestors in ages past; how He had delivered them from the bondage of Egypt, and evinced his favor towards them by the most extraordinary interpositions: He tells them they are still his covenant people, and that He will not forsake them; He gives them this assurance in the tenderest and most forcible manner;-"Zion said, the Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me." No! says He, "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion upon the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget; yet will I not forget thee." And lest in their despondency they should doubt his ability to accomplish their deliverance, He refers them to the works of creation and providence as illustrative of his power. "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with a span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountainsin scales and the hills in a balance? Behold the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance! Behold He takethup the isles as a very little thing! All nations before Him are as nothing, and they are counted to Him, less than nothing and vanity! To whom, then, will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold! who hath created these things, that bringeth out their hostby number: He calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might, for that He is strong in power, not one faileth. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, my way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?" This expostulation and much more to the same purpose, is intended to dispel the fears and to revive the hopes of his desponding people, who had hung their harps upon the willows, and who wept by the rivers of Babylon, when they remembered Zion. The text appears to form a part of the same general address: "Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God." There was a pious remnant of the nation answering to this description. They feared the Lord and obeyed his voice under the darkest and most discouraging circumstances. God had said, I will sift them as wheat is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not one grain be lost. And why would He take so much care of them? Because they were precious in his sight. He tells them so ; and assures them that He loved them with more than a mother's tenderness, for her infant child; and moreover that it was his fixed purpose soon to appear for their deliverance; that his Almighty arm, which had divided the sea, and broken the power of Egypt, and led his people out from the house of